Skip to content Unusual Suspects: Moses - the Reluctant Leader Jun 4 · 33 min ...more
Unusual Suspects: Moses - the Reluctant Leader
June 4, 2025 · 33 min
John Mark shares Moses' struggle with insecurity and rejection, encouraging everyone to embrace their unique calling by surrendering their excuses and saying "yes" to God.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton June 4, 2025 · 33 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
John Mark shares Moses' struggle with insecurity and rejection, encouraging everyone to embrace their unique calling by surrendering their excuses and saying "yes" to God. ...more Show the full description Show less John Mark shares Moses' struggle with insecurity and rejection, encouraging everyone to embrace their unique calling by surrendering their excuses and saying "yes" to God.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
101K followers
John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
101K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Unusual Suspects: God's Unlikely Choices 0:00 We're blessed. We do start, just as you saw, a brand new series today, that will run all the way through the summer. It's entitled Unusual Suspects. So we are really gonna dig0:11 in, to some of the characters in the the characters in the Bible that God chose to use and hopefully it will encourage you, that are in the room, those that are online. And here's what you and I need to understand, when0:22 God builds his team, he's not looking at resumes, he's looking at hearts. God's not looking at your past, he's looking at your willingness.0:35 God's not looking at your resume, he just wants your yes. And so as we journey through the old testament and just look at all of these characters day by day, understand that none of them are0:47 perfect. God chooses some unlikely characters, some unusual suspects. I mean think about David, someone we love, the man after God's own heart. What0:59 do we know about David? He was that youngest brother that was overlooked, he was the shepherd boy when the prophets showed up to their house and said, Hey, God has told me to come to the house and anoint 1 of your sons,1:10 Jesse, to be the next king. And so Jesse begins to roll all of his sons in there, it's not him, it's not him, it's not him, it's not him. And he goes, well do you have another son? Because it's none of them. And the1:22 overlooked little brother, David ends up becoming king. Doesn't stop there, remember fast forward just a little bit, from even the stories that we're going to see today. Remember1:34 Rahab? How would you like to have her resume? Harley. But God chose to use her because He didn't focus on1:46 her resume, He focused on her heart. He didn't look at her past, He just simply looked at her yes. And Rahab the harlot ended up in1:58 the line and lineage of Jesus. Fast forward to the new testament, what about what about a guy named John the Baptist? What do you know about John the Baptist? He's really the 1 that that as the old testament was silent,2:08 ended in Malachi, was silent for several hundred years and then ultimately this 1 that was prophesied that would come about, that would proclaim the coming of the Lord. And that was John the2:20 Baptist. It was John the Baptist that said, Behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. But he was kind of an unusual suspect. What do you know about John the Baptist? You didn't know this?2:32 He lived in the wilderness, he wore camel hair for clothes, and he ate bugs. You know, my guess is if John the Baptist was alive today,2:44 he would not be signed up for any TED Talks. They're just saying, no I don't think we're going to go there at all. What about a lady named Ruth? We're going to look at her in a couple of weeks. She was2:56 a Moabite, a foreigner, on her resume was not from here, not likely to become anything, no power, no pedigree,3:08 no anything. She is a widow and all she has is that she can glean some crops in the side of the field, but God showed up to her and chose to use her3:21 and she was adopted into God's family and ultimately ended up in the line and the lineage of Jesus. What about a guy named Isaiah the prophet? What do you know about Isaiah the prophet? A lot of3:32 people know woe is me, for I am undone, then he finally says send me. Do you know the rest of Isaiah's story? The dude was pretty much an outcast, there were times that he literally, go read it,3:44 not making this up, he preached naked. Chase is preaching that sermon. I mean, unusual3:56 character. And you're like, God, you used him? He forgot to dress before he went to church. Unusual suspect. What about a lady named Deborah, a judge, a prophet in the old testament? Let me tell you, you wanna talk about4:08 a woman in4:20 couple of weeks and Deborah shows up, the children of Israel being overwhelmed by their enemies, none of the men were courageous or spiritual or bold enough to stand up to them. Deborah shows up and says4:32 listen boys, we gotta get this together. She leads them to victory. What what about Esther?4:44 An orphan who has no power, no prestige, ends up being a queen and saves all of Israel. Today what about this guy?4:56 A guy named Moses. We love the idea of Moses. If you're old enough you certainly watch the 10 Commandments. Remember Moses, he had his wilderness bed head going on and just showed up to Pharoah.5:09 But even before that, what do we know about Moses? He had a criminal record, he was a stutterer, He wasn't eloquent of speech.5:21 Matter of fact, what else we know about Moses is that he actually, as he grew up in Israel, didn't like what was going on. He had a failed first attempt When he5:33 ultimately saw an Israelite being beaten and he murdered this Egyptian soldier and thought he could keep it quiet, but he couldn't. And his only response5:46 was to run out and hide in the wilderness for a long long time. So as we think through these unusual suspects, my prayer is that each 1 will5:57 connect with you in a very real way. See because God doesn't care about your past, he doesn't care about your resume, he cares about your yes. See I think what6:09 we're gonna see uh-uh here and even Moses in a second is is God is exceedingly patient with Moses when he has the questions, the same questions you and I have6:21 about whether God can use you. But when God gets frustrated with Moses, it's not about his insecurity, it's not about his uncertainty, it's not about his doubt in his own ability,6:34 it's the fact that Moses won't say yes. So let's jump back and let's notice as we read, pick it up, our first set of verses in Exodus chapter 1 as we move to Exodus chapter6:45 3. Here it is, let's start it off. Exodus chapter 1, here's what it says. It says then, in other words, sometime later, then we'll talk about what that means, a new king,6:57 came to being in in Egypt. 1 who knew nothing about Joseph or who Joseph meant nothing to. He came to power in Egypt and looked he said, look he said to his people, the Egyptians, these7:09 Israelites who live among us have become far too numerous for us, come we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and maybe perhaps someday if7:21 an enemy attacks us, these Israelites will rise up and fight with the enemy against us and overwhelm us. So what we need them to do, is we need them to stop flourishing and stop7:33 growing. Look at verse 11, so they put slave masters over all the Israelites, all they want to do is oppress them and put them into forced labor. Now, let me give you a quick history lesson, notice it said then7:45 sometimes after after Joseph, a new king showed up who didn't know Joseph. The story of that, Exodus chapter 1, goes all the way back to Genesis 37. Remember the guy named Joseph had7:57 the younger brother, the the younger brother, coat of many colors, had incredible dreams, who his brothers hated? Joseph shows up to his brothers 1 time, they're jealous of him, he's away from the father's house and they8:08 decide, here's what we're going to do, we're going to capture him and we're going to sell him into slavery. And so they sell him into slavery, he ends up into into Potiphar's house, a very powerful prestigious8:20 person. Joseph goes there as a slave and is honorable in every way, operates with integrity, works hard, does a great job, ends up as number 2 in Potiphar's8:31 house, second only to Potiphar. But in the process he keep he catch catches Potiphar's wife's eye. And she says, hey let's start something8:43 behind Potiphar's back. And Joseph says no and no and no and eventually what happens is she just grabs him 1 time, he takes off, he leaves his coat, he embarrasses her so much8:55 just by simply saying no, I'm gonna honor God, I'm not gonna compromise my character. And what happens is she goes to Potiphar, shows the coat and says he tried to attack me. Wasn't true at all,9:07 but it doesn't matter. Potiphar then takes, throws him into prison. Joseph is down in prison where he shouldn't have been, he should have been back in his father's house or should have been in Potiphar's house, but now9:18 he's in prison. He ultimately ends up working so hard, living with such incredible integrity, character, regardless of where he should have been that he wasn't. He ends up being 1 of the captains of the guards9:31 there in the prison. He encounters some guys that came from Pharaoh's courts. Ultimately after a few dreams are interpreted, 1 of the guys goes back to Pharaoh's court and says you9:43 know, you just had a dream, Pharaoh, that you don't know what it means. Has to do with skinny cows, thick cows, you can read that another time, but really what it was is9:54 that God in a dream was telling Pharaoh that you're gonna have 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine. But Pharaoh didn't know what it meant.10:06 And finally said, 1 guy, 1 of the guys says, you know there was this guy down in jail, his name was Joseph. He was really good at interpreting dreams, maybe you should ask him. So he calls him10:18 up, Joseph ultimately says, Pharaoh I'm glad you brought me up here, yes God has given me an interpretation of this dream dream, is that you are about to have 7 years of amazing flourishing.10:31 But following the 7 years are going to be 1 of the most difficult famines Egypt has ever known. And Pharaoh says, and what should I do? God says, Pharaoh, that during these 7 years10:43 of flourishing and good weather and good rain and good crops, that we need to build bonds and we need to store up everything so we can survive those next 7 years. Sure enough,10:55 that Joseph ends up being number 2 to pharaoh in all of Egypt. Now if you remember the wonderful story of Joseph, what happens is the famine just wasn't 7 years later, the famine wasn't11:06 just in Egypt, it was in the hot entire civilized area around there. And so what happens is brothers and his father are literally dying of hunger. And they hear11:19 Egypt has food. So they make their journey over to Egypt, they show up, sure enough the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery come and ask their brother for11:31 food. Now Joseph, could have done what many of us would do, just say you know paybacks are tough boys. You11:43 know here I am in this position, but he doesn't do that. Instead of killing them, he forgives them. He invites the entire family, this is Genesis chapter 37, 38, and 39,11:55 to to Egypt with him. That's the group that continues to grow. His brothers came for food, ultimately Joseph forgives them, he ultimately begins to see12:07 Israel grow. And now there's a new pharaoh in town. So the children of Israel are in Egypt from Joseph until the time of the Exodus, over12:18 400 years. Not all of those years are they slaves. First couple hundred years, things are good because everybody remembered what Joseph did, but this new pharaoh shows up. And he doesn't12:30 know Joseph, he begins to look at all of these children of Israel, they are flourishing, they are growing, they're getting bigger and bigger, and so that's when we get to Exodus chapter 1. He starts to oppress them.12:42 In Exodus chapter 2, a new pharaoh shows up and that pharaoh says this oppression isn't even working, they are continuing to grow and I am fearful so go read Exodus chapter 2 before we get12:54 to the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. And what happens, that pharaoh says listen, they are not slowing down, here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna kill all of the male babies of the children of13:06 Israel. Remember Moses' mom takes Moses, doesn't want him killed, puts him in a basket, puts him out of river, and in God's providence, in God's sovereignty, in God's grace,13:18 someone in Pharaoh's house picks him up, and this same Moses grows up in Pharaoh's house. A little while later later as he notices the impression, he knows13:30 who he is, he ultimately just gets tired of the children of Israel being oppressed and he goes out and he grabs 1 of the Egyptian soldiers that is beating 1 of the Israelis,13:42 1 of the Israel slaves, and he kills him, buries him, thinks he's getting away with it. But sure enough word gets to Pharaoh and he runs out into the desert. And13:54 that's where we come to the next idea. So we know what? God shows up. Exodus chapter 3, here it is. The Lord said, now this is at the burning14:06 bush, Moses, I have indeed seen the misery of my people. Let me just pause right there for a second. If you're going through some stuff, whether you're in this room or whether you're online,14:19 if you're going through some stuff, man God sees it. Says the Lord says, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard, you wonder if ever if God ever hears you when you pray? He does.14:31 I have heard them crying out because they're slave drivers. I am also concerned, I love that God sees, God hears, God is concerned about their suffering. Look at verse 8. So don't ever wonder if God14:43 cares. Says, so I have come now to rescue them from the from the hand of the Egyptians, alright? Here it is, now we know. And to bring them up to a land, a land that is14:55 good and spacious, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. So here's what God says, we know the end of the story or the next part of the story is that God sends Moses, Moses15:06 gives a bunch of excuses, a litany of excuses, and then Moses goes back to Pharaoh and remember the words, let my people go. Remember how Moses how how pharaoh responds,15:18 I don't think so. I kind of like them as my slaves. And Moses says, well get ready for this because God has a few plagues for you. How many remember the story of the plagues? That15:30 first 1, Moses just starts, they were a society that needed water and so God first thing, first plague, he turned the water into blood. Will you let my people15:42 go? No. Alright then Moses says, well alright here's some frogs. How many remember that? How many of you are big fans of frogs? Good. Oh a couple people are, really? Alright. Okay. And then the frogs didn't15:54 do it, so they send gnats. How many of your fans how many of you have a pet gnat? Then if the gnats weren't enough, God sends flies. And if flies weren't enough, God just16:06 says, alright, we're going to have all your cattle die. Now we got a livestock problem. They still said no. So God says, alright,16:18 here's what we're gonna do, we're just gonna judge you with boils. How many of you have ever had a boil? Can you ever have multiple boils? If that wasn't enough, then hailstorm came.16:30 How many of you know a little bit? Maybe that's us, right? Are we supposed to let somebody go? I don't know. God just keeps sending hell our way and then there's locusts that16:41 show up. Let my people go? No. Then God causes darkness to overwhelm Egypt for 3 days, still not gonna let them go. Remember that last plague?16:53 First born of every family's gonna die. What happens at the end of that? Pharaoh calls Moses together and says dude, take the people and leave. They have17:05 over stayed your welcome. Here we'll pick it up, let's just read it, Exodus chapter 12 verse 31. This is after the 10 plagues. Says during the night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to17:17 them, up, Leave my people, you and you Israelites. This is the shortest exit interview in the history of the world, right? He says, listen, just take them and go. Go worship the17:29 Lord just as you requested, take your flocks and your herds, just as you said, and go and when you're going, would you bless me? Pharaoh is saying, listen I've had bulls, I've lost my first born, there's17:41 hell that struck the land, the water has turned into blood, there's been frogs, gnats and flies. Over and over again our cattle has died. He says just do me a favor, bless me and I'll let y'all go. And the Egyptians17:52 urged them to hurry and leave the country. So here you have this, Moses grew up in Pharoah's house, knew he was an18:04 Israelite, killed an Egyptian, had to run out to the wilderness. For 40 years, he spent time with sheep in a wilderness. He18:16 wasn't preparing, can I just tell you there is no career path from shepherd to national leader? There is no key man strategy to draw him up,18:27 right? He is just out there learning in secret and silence. But God has a bigger plan and there are some of you I truly believe that some of you, you're in the wilderness of your life,18:39 you're just gonna meander around in life and you're wondering, can God use me, will God use me, does God want to use me? Can I tell you absolutely? Absolutely.18:52 And he didn't find his calling at a career path meeting. He found his calling at a bush with a staff in his hand.19:04 And let me tell you what, if you'll read the story in Exodus chapter 3, the same questions and fears that Moses had are the same ones you and I19:16 have today when God calls us. Remember his first 1? God right there at the burning bush, he looks at Moses, his hey Moses, here's what I want to do. I want you to go and I want19:28 you to go to Pharaoh, and I want you to tell Pharaoh let God's people go. Do you remember what Moses' first response was, first excuse? Insecurity.19:39 Moses, what? Who am I? Moses maybe 40 years earlier would have said, well I'm kind of something in Pharoah's house, but right now he's nothing but a shepherd. And his19:51 first question is a question of insecurity, which is what you and I often struggle with as well. And remember although Moses had a question, God always had an answer. God's answer was, you're20:03 right Moses, you're not much of anything. But he says I'll be with you. Then he had the second question, but Lord what what if I go to them20:15 and they say who sent me? That was his question. So I'm just going to go to the children of Israel, I've been walking around the desert for 40 years, I'm gonna go into the religious leaders of Israel and say, listen20:26 here's what's about to happen, I'm gonna go talk to the pharaoh. And when I talk to the pharaoh, he's gonna let us all go, it's gonna be awesome. And we're gonna get to go to this land that is flowing with milk and honey20:38 and they're gonna go, well who sent you? Don't we all have that same question? And that's when God says, just tell them the great I am sent20:50 you. The eternal, everlasting, loving, all powerful, all knowing God, the God who spoke the world into existence. Tell them that God sent you.21:03 I am has sent you. Then Moses says well, the Lord, what if I go to them and they just, they just don't believe me? They'll say okay,21:15 that's great. You can imagine this conversation, so you're telling us God spoke to you in a burning bush. What's he fearful of? Rejection.21:27 We all are. I think we all are, I know I have been, we've been in that space where I have fear of insecurity, I have fear of rejection, I have fear of somebody's response. And he says, what if they don't believe21:38 me? God says, I got an idea, what do you have in your hand? You remember the story? Moses's staff, God says throw it on the ground. He throws it on the ground, it becomes21:50 a snake. I love it. Go go read the story again. Go read it especially in the Hebrew. When we think about Moses, this this powerful leader, this amazing leader that goes into22:02 Pharaoh and says let my people go, here's what it says. When he threw down his staff and it turned into a snake, Moses turned and ran. That is the only22:14 appropriate response to a snake. If you're a snake lover in this room, I don't get it. On Instagram, every once in a while, I felt like you had to see22:26 these snake charmers that they're sitting there with these cobras doing all of this. And I'm going, this is not going to turn out well. Maybe not today, maybe not this real, but there's probably somebody else that was in22:38 this real yesterday. They're no longer with us. Right? And it says, he threw the staff on the ground, God was demonstrating to him that I will use the ordinary, I will use the insignificant, he's already seen22:50 the bush and he's also saying most so I can use you. He says, if they don't believe you, here's what you're gonna do, drop the staff. And through the power of a miracle, I'm gonna show them a23:01 snake. And then here's what it says, God said now Moses turn and run. I can only imagine God from the burning bush, hey Moses, back come back over here, I got something for you.23:13 Yes Lord? He said, you you see that snake? God says, here's what I want you to do, I want you to reach down, I want you to pick it up by the tail. Like I said, I'm not a snake23:25 handler. I don't think that's a good plan. I I don't think a tail is where you're supposed to grab, but it says he he does, I can only imagine, he does, he reaches out and grabs you, turns back23:37 into a staff. What was God saying? They're not going to believe you, but I'm gonna give you the power that you can manifest in front of them. Then the next thing he says, man, I question my ability. Now think about it,23:49 everything Moses is going through, wondering if God can really use him, is exactly what you and I go through. Man, we we are insecure, we're uncertain,24:02 we we wonder what people will do, will they receive us? His last 1, he he he doubts his ability. He says, lord I've been hanging out in the desert with the sheep24:14 for 40 years, not the only word I'm good at is bat. And now I'm gonna roll into Pharaoh's house and I'm gonna speak to him, this all powerful 124:25 that has been trained and he looks sharp. You've seen the movie, right? Got clean haircut. If you're too young you don't know what that means, but 10 Commandments.24:38 I'm gonna go talk to him. And Moses does exactly what you and I do. He doubts his ability. He says, Lord I've never been good24:50 at speech, never been a good talker. You know what God says? Moses, who made your mouth? Who created you?25:02 God says, Moses who knit you together in your mother's womb for such a time as this? And I want you to know with all of those concerns and all of those25:15 fears, God is patient. Moses asks a question, God gives an answer. Moses asks a question, God gives an answer. If you are asking questions, God's got the answer25:29 Until the last thing that Moses said, and I want everybody to listen to this. See God was patient with him to deal with his25:40 insecurities, him doubting his ability. This last phrase that Moses makes said it made the Lord25:52 burn with anger. We better take note of this, that of all the things Moses said, I can't do it because I can't26:04 talk, I can't do it because they're not gonna believe me, I can't do it because I haven't been trained, I can't do it because I don't have the pedigree. None of those made God mad. There's a last phrase.26:17 When Moses looked at God in the burning bush with the staff that used to be a stake, a snake, and he says God, send someone else.26:30 Send someone else. See God doesn't get mad when you wonder if you have the ability. God doesn't get mad if you fear what others are gonna say. God doesn't when26:42 you think about your resume, your forgiveness, your past. What angers God is when you won't give him a yes. He doesn't care about your resume, he cares about your26:54 heart. He doesn't care about your past, he cares about your yes. So Moses said, Lord send anyone else.27:06 It says God's anger burned at him. See child of God, part of the reason why we're teaching this series all the way through the summer is to let you know I truly believe God's got a call27:18 on every heart, every life, every man, every woman, every single, every marriage. God's got something powerful and real he wants you to do.27:30 Moses ends up being a pretty reluctant leader. It's almost as if he's being brought along kicking and screaming, but he ended up being a leader none the27:42 less. So here's how God responds. God says, alright Moses after being angry, he said Aaron is on his way.27:54 And so here's what I want you to know, I believe that if God is calling you, he'll put others beside you to enable you to do it, to enable you to fulfill his call. That's why28:06 we challenge anyone and everyone all the time. Find a church, find a group, find find a group of friends that y'all can grow with and you can journey28:18 with all along the way because why? That's what God wants. So So thought number 1, let's just jump in while we have a few minutes left. Here's thought number 1, man, God sees potential28:30 when we see ordinary. See a lot of you might think well I'm just so ordinary, I'm so this, I'm so that, can I just tell you what? God sees potential. God saw potential in this guy that had been out in the wilderness as28:42 a shepherd for 40 years. God saw potential in a bush that he could just burn without letting it burn up so he could speak with God saw potential in a staff. God saw potential in a stutter stutter. So God, listen to this,28:53 God sees potential when all we see is ordinary. I just What an incredible God shows up, Moses has a list of excuses, God has a list of answers.29:06 Moses focuses on his own limitations, God focuses on his potential. Now we have excuses, God has answers. So let me ask you a question, what excuse are you29:17 giving to God today for not saying yes to him? What excuse are you giving to him? Probably it has something to do with this next thought, number29:29 1, God's call ultimately outweighs our own secure insecurity. Why was Moses so insecure? Oftentimes, I believe it's the same29:41 reason you and I are insecure. Moses looked at himself and compared himself to pharaoh. Why are we insecure? I think a lot of times we we put ourselves29:53 on scales and we measure our lives against somebody else. And here's what I know, when you fall into the trap of comparison, can God use me? You're gonna look around at everybody30:05 else and you're going to overweight their strengths and underweight their weaknesses. Do you understand what I'm talking about? You're going to look at everybody else. That family, they're way better here,30:17 we're way worse here. And see, a lot of times when we fall in this comparison trap, that's exactly what Moses did. He goes, I don't compare with Pharaoh.30:29 He goes, I have a few sheep, he rules the whole country. I've got little power over the sheep, he's the most powerful man in the world.30:41 I can hardly talk, he's used to speaking to princes and all of his advisors and his strength. I've got no money, he's got all the wealth in the world. And see,30:53 we go back and forth and back and forth and we find ourselves, when we compare ourselves with somebody else, we think they're awesome and I'm not. And God says, listen,31:05 I am calling you with the resume you have, with the past you have, to do something powerful for me. I don't31:17 care about your resume, I care about your heart. I don't care about your resume, I care about your yes. So here's how we'll close today.31:30 Are you going to give God a yes or you're gonna keep saying no? If you give God a yes, He'll do more than you could ever imagine.31:45 If you say no, he'll use someone else and you'll forever miss out. Let's pray. God thank you so much for just the beginning.31:58 As we scratch the surface on a guy named Moses, who was an unusual suspect, an unlikely candidate to be used in32:10 a powerful way to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and towards the promised land. But God also believe right now as we prayed for this service and we prepared for this whole32:21 series, there are people right now in this room watching online that they've said no long enough. That they're going to be the kind of people32:33 that said, Lord we're we're going to stop using our resume as an excuse, we're going to stop using our our past failures and mistakes and sins as an excuse, and I'm going to begin to say yes to whatever God has called me32:44 to do. And God I'll celebrate in advance even right now, this moment, for the blessings those people are going to see who will step out32:56 and lead, even if they're like Moses, a reluctant leader. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen.In this video 0:00 Unusual Suspects: God's Unlikely Choices
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.